It's been a whirlwind few months for Hinesville (Ga.) Liberty County star linebacker Raekwon McMillan, who's continuing to see his star rise and his travel plans change on a week-to-week basis. He's been to Clemson and Alabama, and he's been to Florida and Georgia and more. This week, he made his fourth visit north to check out the Buckeyes in the past year, and while he was not expecting anything new, he left feeling as good as ever about the Buckeyes, long-rumored to be a leader for the Rivals 100 junior.

"I was planning on updating and releasing a new top five following this trip," McMillan said. "I'm still working on the top five, but after this trip it is clear that Ohio State is my favorite."

For the 6-foot-3 middle linebacker, this visit to Ohio State helped him see Ohio State as a whole, not just for its football tradition.

"This trip was by far the best I've taken to Ohio State," he said. "I got to spend some time learning about my major in college, and I got to meet Gene Smith, Archie Griffin, Troy Smith and Bobby Carpenter. It's been incredible to get to meet some of the legends of college football at Ohio State and everywhere I've visited."

With Ohio State re-established as his leader, McMillan is spending his spring working on his footwork and his technique at linebacker, hoping to see all facets of his game come together for a big senior season. To that end, he's also preparing to showcase his skills at a couple of the nation's elite prep football combines this summer.

"I'm going to participate in the Rivals 100 camp, as well as 'The Opening' from Nike," he added. "Those camps are great to go to, to just have fun and experience it because you can't ever really do those types of things again. I've loved everything about the recruiting process, except some of the social media stuff, so I want to do as much as possible while I can."

Originally McMillan was had planned on making his announcement at the 2014 Under-Armour All-American game, and while that is still up in the air, he has decided officially that he will enroll at whatever school he matriculates to early, hoping to gain an edge on his freshman competition.

"I've decided that I will announce in either December or at the Under-Armour game," McMillan said. "I want to get a jump on my class and get a better chance to play. These days it seems those who start (enroll) in the summer always seem to fall behind, I don't want to do that. "